By following the BASIC RULES..."Where to Mount a Transducer on the Transom of a Boat", you can be sure to get it right the first time. If we have heard it once, we have heard it a 10,000 times over the years, "locate the cleanest or smoothest water possible by watching over your transom". Come on now, who are they kidding? It's all a mess back there at speed and we defy anyone to show us where that ideal smooth spot is.
There are at least a gazillion hull designs. Each one is unique to its manufacturer. Regardless, if you have a center console model X22 Zippy Doo Dah or a Z99 Whopper Snagger Deluxe, The Basic Transducer Mounting Rules apply...it makes no difference where someone else has mounted a transducer on their boat, even if it is like yours, there is a likelihood it will not work right for you and chances are, you can mount it better...Follow the rules, THE RULES NEVER VARY.
THE RULES
1) For an optimum sounding, the face of the transducer must be in direct unobstructed contact
with the water.
2) Never mount directly aft of a running strake. Mount aside a minimum of 2”.
3) Never mount directly aft of a lifting strake. Mount aside a minimum of 2”.
4) Never mount directly aft of a through hull fitting. Mount aside a minimum of 2”.
5) Never mount aft of a step designed into the hull unless the step is at near the transom and only then should you mount on a step.
* Mounting a transducer too far outboard may cause it to lose contact with the water in a
steep bank. On difficult hulls with strakes of all kinds, placing a transducer further outboard
appears as the only option, it is best to install a high speed transducer on the port side as most turns are made to port and will keep the transducer in the water.
FACT: Hull design has little, if anything, to do with any more or less "turbulance" or disturbed water any more than one design over another. They all create a mess! So, hanging over your transom to locate the "smoothest water" at 40 mph is just plain poor judgement. Avoid the catastrophe.
FACT: Flat bottom skiffs do not "trap more air" than other hull designs. In fact, flat bottom skiffs actually have less wetted surface than comparably sized V hulls. No one type hull "traps" more or less air than the other.
